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sck5 · 11-03-2014, 17:35

make yourself some fender boards - many of the locks and walls are pretty rough. Also, a pair of gloves for each of you will help keep the slime off you and your boat

ElGatoGordo · 11-03-2014, 20:37

Don't some of the comanies that unstep masts also carry them to the other side?

In my case my main mast is stepped in a tabernacle, and I can lift it with one hand with a beer in the other, so keeping it aboard is no problem. The mizzen is also very easy to step. But on the other hand, leaving them all at home frees deck space and eases my whole situation. For those that have done it, would I likely ever raise sail if I did the whole canal in a summer? (25' super shoal draft trailer boat)

valhalla360 · 12-03-2014, 05:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElGatoGordo

Don't some of the comanies that unstep masts also carry them to the other side?

In my case my main mast is stepped in a tabernacle, and I can lift it with one hand with a beer in the other, so keeping it aboard is no problem. The mizzen is also very easy to step. But on the other hand, leaving them all at home frees deck space and eases my whole situation. For those that have done it, would I likely ever raise sail if I did the whole canal in a summer? (25' super shoal draft trailer boat)

On the canal there is really no use for sails. Maybe if you can put the mast up by hand in 15-20 minutes and are desperate to sail, you can drop down into the finger lakes or there is a 20 mile stretch across Lake Oneida where you could. But you would have to pull it back down to cross between the lakes.

I'm sure you can arrange to have it shipped but with the exception of crossing Lake Oneida, there really isn't any rough water to deal with and it's mostly no wake so it just isn't a big deal.

The vast majority of the canal is just not conducive to sailing.

LeaseOnLife · 12-03-2014, 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by sck5

make yourself some fender boards - many of the locks and walls are pretty rough. Also, a pair of gloves for each of you will help keep the slime off you and your boat

+1 on the fender boards.

We spend a bit of extra time and removed spreaders and rigging. The rigging wire was tied to toe rails, spreaders stored below. The decks were clean and easy to work from, even with the mast carried on the boat.

It's a nice (motorboat) trip, we enticed some friends to help us thru the locks on the way down.

flagorio · 12-03-2014, 10:28

We built saw horses out of 2x6's using an I beam construction technique, 3 lengths as wide as the cockpit in the shape of an I, then attach the legs so they are automatically at the correct angle. PlanS are on web. Same thing with the foredeck. Laid the main, mizzen and booms on top and lashed the whole structure to the deck. Lake Oneida was the worst but nothing moved. Powerboat wakes were the worst. We bought a screen room from Walmart to lay over the cockpit for bugs and separated the masts slightly for structure. The foredeck sawhorse also formed a great perch up on the foredeck. We got the wood for free from the marina where we stepped. Costs ran 600 for two masts to lay down and 250 to re step in NY. We paid for nightly stays in Tonawanda and In Albany. The rest was free. Be warned to stay out of Winterhaven Maria in Brewerton, ny.
The permit for us was 75 and worth it. One a$$h013 lock tender at lock 10 or 11 gives everybody a hard time but the rest were really gracious.